Proximity payment cards are in widespread use. A well known standard for such cards has been promulgated by MasterCard International Incorporated, the assignee hereof, and is referred to as “PayPass”. Proximity payment cards typically include a radio frequency identification (RFID) integrated circuit (IC) embedded in a card-shaped plastic body. An antenna is also embedded in the card body. The antenna allows the card to receive a power signal from a point of sale terminal. The antenna is also used by the RFID IC to transmit the payment card account number, and possibly other information as well, to the POS terminal.
In the process of manufacture and distribution of proximity payment cards, there is a step referred to as “personalization”. In the personalization step, a payment account number, and possibly other information such as the prospective cardholder's name, are stored in the RFID IC of a proximity payment card blank. Personalization may also include printing the payment card account number, the cardholder's name, and possibly other information on the face and/or back of the card blank.
Because proximity payment cards are issued in large numbers, automated equipment has been developed to personalize sizable batches of proximity payment cards. The automated equipment is typically designed to handle and process standard-sized card blanks which meet the well-known ID-1 standard in terms of dimensions and in other respects.
Some holders of payment card accounts may find it convenient to carry a proximity payment device that is smaller than a standard sized payment card, and issuers of proximity payment cards are moving to issue such smaller devices. It has been proposed, for example, to issue proximity payment devices that are small enough to be conveniently carried on key rings. However, the widely used automatic personalization equipment cannot readily handle and process the proposed small proximity payment devices without expensive redesigns of the equipment.